New rescue macaw- severely plucked

I just received my biggest challenge yet. James is a BG 10 year old male. James has been plucking since he lost his friend 9 years ago.

Say hello to James



James has been tested negative for the most common illnesses. Next step is organ profile and crop and kloak swaps. If they come back clean, I will try my best to help him on his hopefull road to recovery.

I can see a lot of feathers, that have not died, under the skin, so there is definately room for improvement.

I have given him a "sweater" on to keep him warm and keep him from shivering.


I have with quite good results converted 2 pluckers to non-pluckers and have one plucker on the mend. I really hope I can get some good results with James as well.

I just saw your post about Tino, so I keep my fingers crossed that this will be a great progress story as well!

He looks special. I can’t say why, there’s just something about him...I hope you succeed in helping back into full feather. I’ve followed many of your bird’s stories. You have such amazing success with these little guys. Do you go by intuition and treat each bird differently? Or is there a technique that works for all of them, maybe with some modifications? Feather plucking is such an intractable problem for many parrots, and often costs them their homes because people don’t want an ugly parrot, or they feel guilty and think the bird would be better off with someone else.

Every bird is unique and has to be treated as such. I would rather say I have a tool box with an assortment of different tools. I try the different tools out and see if I can use that tool for that specific bird.

I would have liked to give James a collar as well, but he reacted really badly to the collar, so I removed it again.

The only thing I use for all the parrots is to activate them, give them mental stimulation, good food and a lot of love.

For the pluckers I also always use a product from Holland/the Netherlands, which is an oat covered in beta-keratin. This is difficult for them to produce and if they are plucked they will continually be in short supply, which in turn will keep them eating their feathers to replenish the beta-keratin. As you can hear it's an evil circle, which is difficult to break with no added help.

I believe that each recovery has to have some of each of every component to be successful. I guess that's where my intuition comes in. How much of each componant is needed.

Hello James! You have no idea how lucky you are to have been rescued. Great things await!!

Poor guy! They are such sensitive creatures. Only us parrot owners know that.

I hope that with lots of love and attention from you with oodles of play, extra good nutrition and a safe feeling environment he will get past his plucking. I assume you've discussed it with his avian vet and ruled out other causes?

My Hahn's macaw is doing very well with no plucking, but I used to have a Pacific Parrotlet that plucked for a while. I think part of his problem was that he didn't always eat what he should. We had to go above and beyond to get him to eat veggies and fruit and other good stuff. He also reacted to my moods. I have bipolar disorder. As my mental illness eased he grew back his feathers.

Cthebird said:

Poor guy! They are such sensitive creatures. Only us parrot owners know that.

I hope that with lots of love and attention from you with oodles of play, extra good nutrition and a safe feeling environment he will get past his plucking. I assume you've discussed it with his avian vet and ruled out other causes?

My Hahn's macaw is doing very well with no plucking, but I used to have a Pacific Parrotlet that plucked for a while. I think part of his problem was that he didn't always eat what he should. We had to go above and beyond to get him to eat veggies and fruit and other good stuff. He also reacted to my moods. I have bipolar disorder. As my mental illness eased he grew back his feathers.

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As I wrote in the original post all other physical issues has to be ruled out before I make any major changes. All tests are done by an avian vet.

SilleIN said:

James has been tested negative for the most common illnesses. Next step is organ profile and crop and kloak swaps. If they come back clean, I will try my best to help him on his hopefull road to recovery.

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As I also wrote in the original post, I have converted others pluckers to non pluckers. All recoveries are monitored by my regular avian vet with consultations by 2 other vets.

SilleIN said:

I have with quite good results converted 2 pluckers to non-pluckers and have one plucker on the mend. I really hope I can get some good results with James as well.

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I am so happy your Hahns is doing better :smile015:

James has finally gotten a clean bill of health. No physical issues, so now the tough job of getting him to focus on something else.

I can say, that the few days he's been here, about 10-20 small down has come out and he seems so busy playing with the other macs, that he hasn't had time to pluck them yet.

My avian vet thinks I'm crazy, but he does admit that I have shown great results with the other pluckers, so he says that I should not be disappointed if James will be my first failure, but he roots for me and James and admits, if I don't try, he will definately not recover.

Fingers crossed he was just sad to be alone and giving him mac friends is the cure.

I'm fostering a BG named Lulu. She's naked too. Not sure how long she's been plucking. How do you get them to wear a sweater? Where do you get one? She's only been here for a week but is making herself at home. She knew me from the rescue so that's helped. I'm still a little nervous when she ruffles her feather when I'm petting her. In Grey language, it means I'm about to get bit if I don't stop. She was purring today. It was so cute. She also gives kisses by licking my cheek.

trimblegirls said:

I'm fostering a BG named Lulu. She's naked too. Not sure how long she's been plucking. How do you get them to wear a sweater? Where do you get one? She's only been here for a week but is making herself at home. She knew me from the rescue so that's helped. I'm still a little nervous when she ruffles her feather when I'm petting her. In Grey language, it means I'm about to get bit if I don't stop. She was purring today. It was so cute. She also gives kisses by licking my cheek.

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Wait 'till she frenchs you. And I ain't talkin about mustard!

Hmmm, mine is obsesed with licking my nose (inside as well as outside), not very hygienic- so I try to keep her away from my face


How is James doing?

His eyes look very sweet and skeptical--I like his face lol. I mean, aside from the feather issues, his facial expression is a bit unique (which is cool). I wish you well! What a great (and possibly maddening) cause! YAYYY! Plucking is tough, but if he continues, just remember that the habit is very hard to break (even when the stress/unhappiness is removed)...just depends, but don't take it personally if he keeps struggling. I am sure he will be happier with you, and it also sounds like you know what you are doing!

Plucking is just so stressful! My cockatoo was doing lots of over-preening when she was first re-homed to me (and prior) and she is doing much better, but my heart still sinks a little (or palpitates---depending on her mood) when I see a feather or two on the cage bottom (EVEN THOUGH I KNOW BIRDS LOSE FEATHERS...It is like a MUCH milder version of PTSD lol (AND, I am not making -light of PTSD either--just in case anyone takes my comment to heart**disclaimer**)